Adolescents who have high levels of exposure to television programs that contain sexual content are twice as likely to be involved in a pregnancy over the following three years as their peers who watch few such shows.
The amount of sexual content on television has doubled in recent years, and there is little representation of safer sex practices in those portrayals.
While some progress has been made, teenagers who watch television are still going to find little information about the consequences of unprotected sexual practices among the many portrayals promoting sex.
23 programs popular among teenagers that were widely available on broadcast and cable television contained high levels of sexual content.
Nearly 1 million young women become pregnant each year, with the majority of these pregnancies unplanned.
"By depicting the sunny, even redemptive side of Juno's plight, the magazine argued, Hollywood had perhaps made motherhood attractive for teens."
Kids who had "heavier sexual media diets" became more than twice as likely to become sexually active by the age of 16.
The generation of girls raised in abstinence-only education programs may not know as much about contraception as kids used to know.
Images of unwed mothers have gone mainstream.
"This is unusual and rare that we would have movies like Juno or Knocked Up, or that we would now be glamorizing celebrities who are pregnant and we don't even know who the fathers are. ... For [girls], looking to see who's got a baby bump is really compelling somehow," Brown says
The pregnancy rate among teenage girls in the United States has jumped for the first time in more than a decade.
The pregnancy rate among 15-to-19-year-olds increased 3 percent between 2005 and 2006 -- the first jump since 1990.
"Contributors include an over-sexualized culture, lack of involved and positive role models, and the dominant message that teen sex is expected and without consequences," Huber said.
In 2006, 750,000 women younger than 20 became pregnant.
In 2006, the rate increased for the first time in more than a decade, rising 3%.
Arkansas had the highest pregnancy rate among non-Hispanic white teenagers
Christensen, Sue, and Ann Rosen. "Teenage Pregnancy." Local Community Organizations Web Pages. The Family Connection of St. Joseph County, 1996. Web. 25 May 2010. <http://community.michiana.org/famconn/teenpreg.html>.
One in every eight births in the U.S. is to a teenager
Educational failure, poverty, unemployment and low self-esteem are understood to be negative outcomes of early childbearing
The American popular culture glorifies sex and ignores responsibility.
with straightforward attitudes about sex, teens get more consistent messages, clearer information and greater access to contraception and abortion.
"In Cluster of Teen Pregnancies, 'Juno' Comes to Life : NPR." NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. 26 June 2008. Web. 24 Apr. 2010. <http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91906103>.
Stein, Rob. "Rise in Teenage Pregnancy Rate Spurs New Debate on Arresting It - Washingtonpost.com." Washingtonpost.com - Nation, World, Technology and Washington Area News and Headlines. 26 Jan. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2010. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503957.html>.
"U.S. Teenage Pregnancies, Births and Abortions:." Guttmacher Institute, Jan. 2010. Web. 26 Apr. 2010. <http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/USTPtrends.pdf>.
Christensen, Sue, and Ann Rosen. "Teenage Pregnancy." Local Community Organizations Web Pages. The Family Connection of St. Joseph County, 1996. Web. 25 May 2010. <http://community.michiana.org/famconn/teenpreg.html>.